


Heroine

by Burgie



Category: Star Stable Online
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-23
Updated: 2016-08-23
Packaged: 2018-08-10 14:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7848244
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Burgie/pseuds/Burgie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Justin discovers a secret about himself. Rebecca belongs to centeris2</p>
            </blockquote>





	Heroine

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Centeris2](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Centeris2/gifts).



Even after Justin left Dark Core, it stayed with him. Not just in the frequent nightmares, or the constant reminders in the form of the scars on Rebecca’s hands, but in other ways.

Still, even he couldn’t have expected this. He’d just been riding through the woods, bonding with his horse and enjoying the quiet sounds of the birds and trees native to the Hollow Woods. There was a flash of some darkness in his mind, and he squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head. No, that was behind him now. He’d escaped from that awful place. His hands tightened on the reins as he remembered the horrible escape. The explosions, the running, the sheer terror. He’d seen Rebecca die… or so he’d thought at the time.

Justin dismounted, hoping that movement would help quell his fears and stop the awful memories. Sometimes, on the Dark Core base, he’d felt a strange tingling sensation in his palms. It had usually been followed by a headache, though, and his grandfather had not known why. The druids had also been suspiciously quiet about it when he’d asked.

But now, the tingling didn’t lead to an immediate headache. Instead, it increased and became a burning sensation in his palms. Justin looked at his hands and saw a light growing there. They were glowing. His heart pounded, and Justin looked around to see if there was anyone to help. Sonja hadn’t been in the woods for ages. Before he could cry out for help, though, the burning intensified and Justin reflexively aimed his hands away from his body. The light grew brighter, so he closed his eyes. His vision turned red from the intensity of the light, and he screamed.

When Justin opened his eyes, panting, his hands looked normal again. But the pink remained. In front of him, scarring the earth, was a rift with pink light pouring out. He could faintly see stars amid the pink, and it reached all the way up to the sky. Justin took a step back, wondering what he should do. This must be one of those Pandoric rifts that Sabine could open. It certainly felt like the Dark Portal, hot and sickening. Despite the heat, though, he found that he was trembling. He’d opened a portal to hell. Maybe he really was bad…

“Justin! What did you do?” It took him a moment to place the voice, but he recognised the blonde hair of the girl crouching in front of the rift with some strange vacuum device.

“Rebecca? I… I don’t know,” said Justin. Suddenly feeling dizzy, he staggered over to a tree and emptied his stomach into a bush. He collapsed against the tree, sliding down to the ground. His skin felt too hot, his heart was beating too fast, and the world was spinning…

A splash of cold water woke Justin from his sleep, and he spluttered as he sat up properly again. Maybe it was a dream, maybe he hadn’t actually opened a rift into hell and proved his grandfather right.

“Are you okay?” asked Rebecca, crouched in front of him holding a bucket. She still had a strange vacuum cleaner device on her back.

“No,” said Justin, rubbing his face. He groaned at the dull throbbing in his head, but it wasn’t the headache from before. This was just an average dehydration headache. “Could I have some water? To drink this time?” Rebecca handed him a water bottle, which Justin gladly drank from.

“I thought you’d need that,” said Rebecca. She sat down in front of him. “Has that ever happened to you before?”

“Not like that,” said Justin. He told her about the tingling and the headaches, while Rebecca’s brow furrowed in thought.

“Do the druids know about this?” asked Rebecca. “You know I have to tell them about the rift you opened. They’ll find out anyway.”

“I know,” said Justin. “I deserve any punishment they give me.” His shoulders slumped as he looked at the ground.

“Hey, it’s not your fault. You weren’t intending to open a rift, were you?” asked Rebecca.

“No. I don’t even know what’s happening,” said Justin. “Maybe… maybe I am the monster my grandfather wanted me to be.”

“No! You’re not a monster, Justin,” said Rebecca, taking his hands. They looked so normal now. Certinaly not capable of opening a rift to hell.

“How can you say that after what I did here?” asked Justin, gesturing to the patch of scorched earth. “What I did… to you?” He ran his thumb over the back of her gloved hand, picturing the scars beneath.

“Monsters don’t feel sorry for what they’ve done,” said Rebecca, though she pulled her hands away from his. “You’re not a monster, Justin, you’re a victim.”

“I had some free will when I was there,” said Justin.

“Yeah, I know. You told me to stay away but I didn’t listen,” said Rebecca. “Now look at me.” She looked down at her hands sadly. “I nearly died saving you.”

“But you saved me and you lived,” said Justin. “I’m sorry, though. I shouldn’t have gone after my grandfather.”

“Well, if your dad had told you about it,” said Rebecca. “I know, they were just trying to protect you. It just backfired.” She had a feeling that Justin’s magic was related to that. The druids would be able to confirm it, though.

“But how can I be good if I can open portals to hell?” asked Justin. His mind kept going back to it, running over it again and again like a training rider racing the same track.

“Well, Fripp can open portals to hell, and he’s leading the good guys,” said Rebecca. “It’s not your magic that makes you bad, it’s what you do with it. We need to get into Pandoria to rescue Anne and you can help with that.”

“You’re right,” said Justin hesitantly. “And if I can open portals, maybe I can close them?”

“Exactly,” said Rebecca. She leaned across and kissed him on the cheek. “Don’t think you’re bad, Justin. Never think you’re bad.” She wrapped her arms around Justin, and Justin returned the hug after he got over the kiss. He’d hurt this girl so much, and yet she loved him. She loved him enough to look past his badness, even this new development. The thought of that brought tears to his eyes even as it quieted his fears for now.


End file.
